The Head (part 2)

But talented as stories tellers were, they were not popular with every one, for they stole fame from people who deserve fame such as hunters and soldiers. Another thing that created anger and jealousy toward story tellers was that; they created a new profession. For there were some people who after farm work, instead of staying at home with their wives and children, they start roving around from village to village in search of story tellers. Whenever the sighted one, they club around and listen to the story teller until he or she finishes and they will give their verdict as though they were very intelligent. These groups of errant men and women became popular to a point, where famous story tellers won’t offer a word, if they don’t see them around. One thing that particularly angers the others with those errant men and women who have arrogated to themselves the right to rule on the beauty, honesty and originality of stories was that, after deciding that, a story teller has respected the tripartite points needed for a good story, they will cheer or boo the story teller and worst ask for Palm wine.

Naturally they were so bright to ask for Palm wine not for themselves, but to others. They hide behind the crowd and claim that, those who have laboured to seat and listen will want to wash down their throats, a polite way of asking to be rewarded for having wondered around like the devil in search for some one to deceive. But whenever I think at those wanderers who wandered from one village to the other in search of those who have stories to tell, and also take upon themselves the responsibility or right to judge whether the stories were good or not, I compare them with the modern literary critics of the world the White men brought to us. In fact, I suspect that, even though we could not write or never had the trappings of White people, we nonetheless had the same things like the White men. The famous judge of story tellers in my village which is not located in Southern Cameroon’s was by name: Look-at-the-bush. Look-at-the-bush was a hard working man who had a small portion to farm on.

He was not married and had no child, many reasons to be regarded by others with suspicions. But he was not liked by the famous hunters and soldiers. Why? Because immediately he came back from the farm, he took to his heels and started roving or some famous story tellers came in search of him, because , Look-at-the-bush or in my language: Bonnkwaha had become an authority. He was even consulted by the king of Ndockpoh whenever he wanted to select a story teller to thrill his guests. Bonnkwaha is the one who added innovations in Ndockpoh and Yabassi even as far as Douala and Nsonglolo to story telling. In fact in the entire Bassa and Bassa-Badem land. He said a good story teller must also know how to sing and know the ancestral linage of the Royal family. That is from Jacobo to King Laban, the king of Ndockpoh. For Bonnkwaha always said a good descendant of Logyuda (as must tribes around Ndockpoh consider themselves), must not know only how to tell stories, he/she must know where he/she/they originated. His innovations sent most story tellers out of business and allowed most those of his clan. Well, I will stop here and focus on the story that, I want to share with you. But before stopping to give you the real story, this is another. In our village called Ndockpoh which is near a bigger village called Yabassi, there existed a famous hunter called Nyoglifanda.

Before telling you the brief story of Nyoglifanda, I want to situate where Ndockpoh and Yabassi are located on earth. These two localities are located in a West African country called Cameroon. But in Cameroon, besides the 240 nationalities or tribes as White people and other educated people like to call the aboriginals who live in Cameroon and in other parts of Africa, there exist two regions that speak two different languages: English and French. Ndockpoh and Yabassi are located in the French-speaking part of Cameroon in a province called Littoral and in a division called Nkam. Ndockpoh is a smaller village while Yabassi is bigger and it is the capital of the Nkam division.